Sport

Robins without number one for Eastbourne trip

First published
in Sport
by Andy Warren, Deputy sports editor, awarren@swindonadvertiser.co.uk, @AndyWarren_

SWINDON Robins will face a near-impossible task this weekend when they travel to Eastbourne without number one Peter Kildemand.

The Dane is heading to Slovakia to ride in a qualifying round for the European Championship (SEC) on Saturday and, given the competition is not recognised by the British speedway authorities, Robins’ boss Alun Rossiter will not be granted a guest facility nor will he be able to use rider replacement.

Instead, just as was the case last season when the Robins were forced to replace former captain Hans Andersen with Lewis Blackbird at King’s Lynn for similar reasons, Rossiter’s only option is to use up to a six-point guest from the Premier League.

Coventry found themselves in the same boat at Arlington last weekend due to Andersen’s participation in the SEC qualifying stages and, while Rossiter contacted the Danish union (DMU) to try and switch his former captain and Kildemand’s SEC commitments around, suiting both riders and their clubs, he had no joy.

The Robins boss is yet to settle on a second tier guest at number one but knows his side face an uphill task whoever he picks - although he’s trying to remain positive.

“Peter was only informed three weeks ago about where he was going this weekend and it was hard to change things around,” Rossiter said.

“I rang the DMU guys a couple of weeks ago to try and swap the meeting around but nothing could be worked out.

“This doesn’t do Eastbourne’s business any good either. Two weeks in a row now they are going to have teams going down there without a number one and with a six-point Premier League rider in their place. That’s not attractive for anyone to watch.

“I’m not prepared to get Peter banned by taking a facility because we have to look at the bigger picture. In fairness to Peter he only knew three weeks ago where he was going and we tried to sort it and they (DMU) wouldn’t budge.

“It’s always difficult going there because they are always very strong, but this year they are going to be nigh on unbeatable at home.

“Saying that, you have to go there with some positivity and some hope but this does make it so much more difficult.”

Before travelling to the south coast on Saturday the Robins host Leicester Lions at the Abbey Stadium on Thursday evening.

What a farce this sport is becoming. The British speedway authorities don't recognise the SEC, despite many British based riders competing, and the DMU don't want to help, despite the number of Danish riders competing at the highest level. Can't blame Eastbourne for wanting the meeting to go ahead, as it will probably not dent their home support very much; it will just deter the hardy few travelling Swindon fans from going, and hand yet another three points to the home side. Let's hope we can pick up six points from our two home meetings over the coming 7 days!

What a farce this sport is becoming. The British speedway authorities don't recognise the SEC, despite many British based riders competing, and the DMU don't want to help, despite the number of Danish riders competing at the highest level. Can't blame Eastbourne for wanting the meeting to go ahead, as it will probably not dent their home support very much; it will just deter the hardy few travelling Swindon fans from going, and hand yet another three points to the home side. Let's hope we can pick up six points from our two home meetings over the coming 7 days!mikeinwanborough

In a speedway season under scrutiny for may reasons here we have draconian rules that just harm the sport further when it is already creaking under too much meddling from clowns who seem to have little idea that this fine sport is going down the pan and they have no idea how to stop it. Elite league speedway needs a massive overhaul, a single race night, massive reduction in the guest rider abuse taking place far too often , a huge re think in this lop sided draft rider system which was far too much too soon for this league and should have been tested in the Premier league first. In a recent match that Kings Lynn draft scored 18 and Leicester scored just 2 then the top five of Leicester have 16 points to pull back before they can even think of winning this match and this sums up the crazy gaps in the level and quality of draft choices. Attendances are down and falling and fans can easily be lost to the sport never to return but the clowns that run it seem oblivious to the state of matters. Thursday will be off as there are severe weather warnings for this area so another blank week coming up.

In a speedway season under scrutiny for may reasons here we have draconian rules that just harm the sport further when it is already creaking under too much meddling from clowns who seem to have little idea that this fine sport is going down the pan and they have no idea how to stop it. Elite league speedway needs a massive overhaul, a single race night, massive reduction in the guest rider abuse taking place far too often , a huge re think in this lop sided draft rider system which was far too much too soon for this league and should have been tested in the Premier league first. In a recent match that Kings Lynn draft scored 18 and Leicester scored just 2 then the top five of Leicester have 16 points to pull back before they can even think of winning this match and this sums up the crazy gaps in the level and quality of draft choices. Attendances are down and falling and fans can easily be lost to the sport never to return but the clowns that run it seem oblivious to the state of matters. Thursday will be off as there are severe weather warnings for this area so another blank week coming up.Di kanny oh